Exclusive: Jamie Vardy’s Leicester penalty miss v Wolves was ‘justice’ – Ex-FIFA ref
Keith Hackett has reacted to claims that Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy missing his penalty in his side’s defeat to Wolves represented “justice”.
The former PGMOL chief and ex-FIFA official exclusively told Football Insider that the 38-year-old “manufactured” the contact with opposition goalkeeper Jose Sa that led to him being given a spot kick.
Last week, Vardy announced that he will leave Leicester in the summer after 13 years with the club, when his contract expires at the end of this season.
After so long with the Foxes, he will be looking to go out on a high despite their relegation from the Premier League having already been confirmed after just a single year in the top-flight.
Jamie Vardy farewell tour starts badly
On Saturday (26 April), Ruud van Nistelrooy’s side travelled to Molineux to face Wolves in the first game since Vardy announced his imminent departure from the club.
The hosts had taken a 2-0 lead by the hour-mark thanks to goals from Matheus Cunha and Jorgen Strand Larsen, before Leicester were given a chance to get back in the game with 20 minutes remaining.
As Vardy chased a through ball into the Wolves penalty area, he went down under a challenge from Wolves goalkeeper Jose Sa, prompting referee Sam Barrott to point to the spot.
| Jamie Vardy full Leicester City record | Total (as per Transfermarkt) |
| Appearances | 497 |
| Goals | 198 |
| Assists | 69 |
| Yellow Cards | 50 |
| Red Cards | 3 |
Sa though, would immediately redeem himself by producing an excellent save to keep out the subsequent spot kick from the Leicester star.
Pundit Michael Dawson suggested Vardy missing the penalty was “justice” as he felt the Foxes icon had aimed a kick at the goalkeeper in order to win the spot kick.
Now, Hackett has suggested that he feels there may have been some fortune to the way in which the former England international managed to win that penalty.
‘Leicester City penalty won through experience’ – Keith Hackett
After being asked by Football Insider if he agreed with claims that Vardy‘s penalty miss was “justice”, the former referee said:
“It’s almost justice. When you’ve got this situation of the goalkeeper going down to ground, in a way, Vardy’s a very experienced player, and he knows how to manufacture contact.
“That’s what he’s done. He’s cleverly manufactured the contact, left the referee with a question, and the referee’s saying ‘well I can’t not give the penalty kick because it’s a foul, what I’m seeing is I’m looking at a foul.’
“So I do think this is the dilemma and this is where there’s every right for the VAR to come in and the VAR to say ‘have another look’.
“Because Vardy’s manufactured a penalty kick. No question about what he’s done, and I think it’s very difficult for the referee to judge on first view.
“[The] goalkeeper goes down, [there’s] contact with the forward, I can understand why he’s given the penalty kick.”
In spite of this incident, it is now understood that Wolves are considering a move to sign Vardy when he leaves Leicester on a free transfer at the end of the season.